"You okay, darlin'?"
Katsuki offers Hitoshi a shaky nod, squeezing his hand ever so slightly in an attempt to quell his overworked nerves. He's well aware that Hitoshi is into some shady business but he's never been in a place this seedy before.
It's a little hole in the wall joint that seems to be at full capacity, but not overcrowded. The lighting is fairly dim, probably for multiple reasons that Katsuki didn't care to hear but we're undoubtedly linked to covering their identities should they be compromised. Katsuki's no expert by far, but these don't look like the kind of people to be fucked with.
One of those fuckers has a fuckin' knife for a hand, for fuck's sake.
Oddly enough, Hitoshi fits right in.
There are scantily clad women serving drinks and entertaining as well as they can when their audience is so grabby. Katsuki can barely hear the sound of his own heels clicking against the floor over their obviously forced and obnoxious giggling.
Poor girls. He hopes they're at least getting paid well.
"Eyes on me, sweet thing. You look these assholes in the eye for too long and they'll be on you before you can blink. I'm hoping to leave here tonight without any blood on my hands." Hitoshi urges, breaking the blonde out of his thoughts and snapping his gaze back ahead of him as he leans closer to Hitoshi when the older man's tattooed arm goes to loop around his waist. They make a beeline for the bar and Hitoshi politely helps Katsuki onto one of the high stools. He seems to notice how tense Katsuki is.
"Relax, baby doll, I didn't mean to scare ya. Nobody's gonna fuck with you with me around. Just stay by my side and take it easy, yeah?" He assures him, snapping his fingers to get the barkeeper's attention and nodding him over once the beefy man makes eye contact with him.
"Coke and rum---and make sure it's more rum than coke, yeah? Somethin' sweet for my baby here."
The man hums in affirmation, pausing to eye Katsuki a moment.
"How's a Shirley Temple, sweetheart?"
Katsuki opens his mouth to speak but instead stumbles over his words with a slight stutter.
"Shirley Temple's fine." Hitoshi replies for him and the man gets to work on them, returning a moment later with their drinks and a curious look about him. "Little shy to be around these parts." He says, though it's more a question. Hitoshi shrugs. "He's green."
The man grunts. "Call boy?"
Hitoshi bristles and shoots the man a warning glance. "I said he's mine." He reiterates and the man raises his hands in surrender with a fond chuckle. "Relax, son. Just curious is all, I'm not here to piss on your parade. Got a daughter his age. Pretty blonde thing, like him. I get a little worried when they bring em in this young, y'know? Keep the little ones safe." He says, wiping the counters down as he speaks. Hitoshi just eyed him a moment, glass poised at his lips but he doesn't drink from it.
A criminal with morals, huh?
"What's your name, old timer?" The mercenary asks, setting his glass down on the bar. The old man looks up with a smile. "Kugo. Kugo Sakamata. But they call me Orca." He introduces himself kindly, eyeing Hitoshi a little while longer. "I get a feelin' I know who you are. No introductory needed on your part."
"...You know who I am?" Hitoshi repeats skeptically, as if to call bullshit on the massive man. Orca chuckles at them. "I do. Your old man and I were acquaintances once. Good man. Not someone you wanted to piss off."
This catches Hitoshi's attention.
"You know my dad. You've seen him around lately?"
"Doubt anyone has. But word is that he's up in Nagoya these days. I get the feeling you and your old man don't keep up much?"
Hitoshi rolls his eyes. "What gave you that impression?"
"That's too bad. He never stopped talkin' about his boy. Mostly that you were infuriatingly so much like him...but that he was proud of the kind of man you'd become."
Hitoshi can't help but crack a smile at that. "Proud that I kill people for money?"
"Moreso that you're a man with his own thoughts and convictions. You're capable and clever. A better fighter than he was. But you've carried a lot of his mannerisms. And that attitude. And also...those eye bags. Why is it that neither of you seem to know what proper sleep is?" Orca shakes his head like a disappointed father.
Hitoshi knows now without a doubt that this man definitely knows his father.
"You know the sayin'. Like father, like son."
Orca grunts at that and the conversation goes dead as he walks away. Hitoshi sighs and downs his drink in one go. Katsuki awkwardly shifts on the stool, catching Hitoshi's attention again. He reaches out to grip the blonde's thigh reassuringly, rubbing circles into the skin with his thumb.
"Sorry."
"No, it's fine, just---did we come here to find your dad?"
Hitoshi hums his affirmation. "Yeah. But it doesn't look like we're gonna find him around here. Still, wouldn't hurt to relax a little. Finish your drink, I'll order you somethin' to eat, alright?" He says and Katsuki doesn't argue. Hitoshi seems to need a few drinks and to let loose. This has been just as stressful on him as it has been for Katsuki---if not moreso. They're technically fugitives, after all. It's not like they can just walk into any bar.
Hitoshi's glass is refilled without him asking as Orca returns and sets a key down onto the counter. Hitoshi eyes it curiously but takes his drink in hand again.
"What's that?"
"Key to your father's locked box. Said if you'd ever come looking for him to hand it to you. You're always welcome here if you and your boy there need a place to lay low or just refuel. No one's gonna bother you here."
"Not if they wanna live."
"You really are Shota's son."
And with that, Orca is gone again.
Hitoshi eyes the key for a moment, tapping it against the counter before he stands upright.
"You wanna take that to go, baby? I'll get you somethin' to eat on the way to where we're stayin' tonight but there's somethin' I gotta check."
Katsuki takes his hand so that he can help him down from his stool. "Don't worry about the drink. Let's just get outta here. Besides, one of us has to be sober."
"I'm plenty sober, kitty cat, you don't worry your pretty head about that." He chuckles, arm around Katsuki's waist as he leads him towards the exit. One of the men wolf whistles and reaches out to grope at Katsuki's thigh but Hitoshi quickly draws his knife.
And stabs him right through his forearm.
It happens to fast that Katsuki can barely register what's happening, watching with eyes wide open as Hitoshi casually yanks his knife free and pockets it again, leaving the stranger to wail in agony and nurse his injured arm.
Orca simply laughs.
"No wonder you annoy each other to death. That boy is just like you, Shota."
#
When Katsuki exits the shower, Hitoshi is sitting at the edge of the motel bed with a cigarette pressed between his lips and a metal box at his feet. He's eyeing the key in his palm, but Katsuki can't quite tell what he's thinking. That's always been one of the most intimidating things about him. Unable to read him. And he's not always honest about his feelings when asked but it's the least Katsuki can do.
He crawls onto the bed behind him, still towel clad as he drapes himself over Hitoshi's back and presses a kiss against his shoulder.
"You good?"
"Mm. Yeah, Kit, I'm fine. Don't you start your worryin', alright?" He replies, reaching back with his free hand to caress Katsuki's cheek with a smile as the blonde begins to sway them ever slightly.
"What do you think is in the box?"
Hitoshi snorts. "Knowing my father? Guns. Maybe coffee. He likes the good shit." He says, though Katsuki gets the feeling that he's not joking. Hitoshi pats his thigh and Katsuki moves to let him lean forward and unlock it.
Sure enough, there are guns. Several of them, in fact. Boxes of ammo. Is that instant coffee? They consider that the good shit? Amazing how cultivated Hitoshi is in terms of alcohol compared to coffee.
There's a note as well. There's an address on it.
Hitoshi rifles through his findings and takes a particularly long look at the note, examining it between his fingers.
When you're ready, come find me.
Hitoshi finishes off his cigarette and tosses the note back into the box, flicking the filter somewhere onto the floor and leaning back onto the bed with a sigh.
"I'm sorry this is all taking so long. If you can just bear with me a little longer, I'll have you safe and sound and you'll be home in no time." Hitoshi assures Katsuki. The blonde folds his arms over his chest and avoids his gaze.
"...that means without you, right?"
"...Baby. We talked about this, didn't we? About what was best for you?"
"What if I don't wanna leave you?"
"Katsuki---"
"I can help! I can help you, just---don't throw me away. Please."
There's a long, drawn out silence among them, save for the chirping of crickets outside. After a while, Hitoshi sits up again and turns to hold Katsuki's face in his palms as delicately as he can to have him face him directly and look him in the eyes.
"Hey. Look at me." He tries when Katsuki tries to shrug him off. The blonde relents at the sound of his voice. He seems scared. Hurt, even.
"I'm not throwin' you away. I'd never throw you away. I just...don't want you to lost your life because of me. It's bad enough that things have gone this far but if something so horrible happens that you change completely---that you become some empty shell...well, shit, honey, I can't take that." He says gently, leaning in to rest his forehead against Katsuki's.
"I just want you safe. I'll come back to you. I promise you that. Maybe one day we can live a normal life. I'll give up the gun and we can have us a little house in the country with a picket fence. Maybe a dog. Cute little brat runnin' around."
"Why does it sound like you're proposing to me?"
"Someday. Maybe after we get you that degree, yeah?" He bargains and Katsuki can hardly sort out the barrage of emotions that he feels. Three months and he's already talking about a future with him. A future where they're together. A future where they're both happy.
"You don't think we're takin' this a little fast?" He breathes out and Hitoshi pulls away just a bit as if to assess Katsuki with a curious tilt of his head.
"Nah. If I learned anything from this job is that time is a hell of a bitch. You could spend ten years with someone and be miserable. Spend ten years feeling nothing at all. Or you could be with someone for five months and they've made you the happiest you could ever be. Quality before quantity. Don't measure your love or loyalty by how long you've known someone." His gaze flickers to Katsuki's lips and then back up to his eyes again.
"Do you?" He adds.
Katsuki chuckles a little, body shaking.
"I dunno." He replies honestly. "I just know that nothin' feels right unless I'm with you."
Hitoshi captures Katsuki's lips with his own---deep and passionate. He only pulls away to allow Katsuki a moment to breathe before he's crowding him, teeth and lips and tongue at his neck as his hands grip and massage at Katsuki's hips.
He manages to slowly maneuver Katsuki until he's laying on his back, hand running up his thigh and underneath the towel before he pulls it open and leans back to admire him.
"God damn, baby..." He says in a near breathless way that makes Katsuki burn at the mere tone of his voice. He feels shy---and being naked has never made him coy before.
"You've seen me naked before."
"Seen the moon and stars a thousand times, too. Don't mean I'm ever gonna stop thinkin' they're fucking gorgeous." Hitoshi counters, biting into his lip and palming himself.
It's not meant to be teasing in nature, but it sure as hell does an good job at it.
"S-So you gonna do somethin' about it or are you gonna just stare?"
And Hitoshi does contemplate it---covers Katsuki's body with his own as he leans down to kiss home again---but he does little more than that.
"Not tonight, baby. Don't gimme that look---c'mon. I'm not gonna make our first time on some filthy motel mattress, okay?"
"So he's a romantic, now. Got it."
"Are you sassin' me?"
"Just as sure as I'm a fuckin' stripper." Katsuki combats, rolling over onto his side only to be flipped around again with a yelp. Hitoshi leans down until their noses are almost touching, eyes narrowed as he looks into Katsuki's own.
"Don't get pissy with me, little boy." He warns, taking Katsuki's chin in his hand. "I can't admire how gorgeous my baby is without fuckin' him? Hm? I mean, sweetheart, I definitely wanna put it in you if that's what you're worried about. I just think you deserve better than...well, fuck, than this."
And Katsuki suddenly feels guilty about being dramatic about it.
"Okay. I'm sorry."
"Nah, don't apologize. You're right to wanna be touched, you know. I mean, so much adrenaline and shit all built up---feels good to let it out sometimes."
Katsuki rolls his eyes.
"Or, and here's a crazy idea, maybe I just wanted to have sex with my boyfriend."
He puts a title on it without realizing but when Hitoshi breaks out into a full blown grin and it makes Katsuki's heart skip a beat, he realizes that he'd do anything to see that smile every day.
"Boyfriend?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm."
Hitoshi's grin spreads and he lays down to pull Katsuki against his chest and kiss at his neck. Katsuki giggles at how it tickles, legs swinging over Hitoshi's waist to pull him flush against him. It's an intimate sort of thing, lying their skin to skin just to feel each other's hearts race. Hitoshi laces their fingers together, the other hand curling around Katsuki's side to hold him.
"Don't worry, darlin'. It won't be like this forever. Can you wait just a little while longer for me? Then I promise I'll appreciate that beautiful body in full."
Katsuki smiles. It's so ironic for Hitoshi to treat him so innocently.
"I'm not rushing it."
"You're a sweetheart."
Katsuki shrugs and Hitoshi raises their conjoined hands to press a kiss against Katsuki's knuckles.
"We're heading to Nagoya tomorrow."
"Going to see your dad?"
"Mm. We were headed there already to get some much needed information but at this point it would be a waste to not see the old bastard."
"Should I be nervous?"
"Bout what? My old man? Nah, he hates everybody."
That's...not even a little bit comforting.
Hitoshi sighs, seemingly sensing Katsuki's discomfort.
"C'mere. Lemme hold you some more." He says as he moves them until Katsuki is laying on top of him. He sleeps better that way, Hitoshi had learned.
He falls asleep to the sounds of Hitoshi humming in his ear, callous fingers massaging at his scalp and playing in his hair.
It's odd, Katsuki thinks. Doesn't matter where they are. As long as Hitoshi is there, it feels like he belongs.